Waste receptacle



y 1 B. GOTTHEIM v 2,202,523

WASTE RECEPY'I'ACLE Filed Dec. 14, 1937 EZ/V/A/Wl/V G'OTTHE/M INVENTOR.

% v ATTORNEYS,

Patented May2s 194o UNITED STATES M This invention relates'to waste=receivers and more specifically to a-receiver' for use by the medicaland dental professions inthe disposalof used cotton pellets, cotton rolls and other germ ottenspattered over the patient and until carried to the floor waste can. Often this waste is accidentally thrown on the .floor.. This closed carton receiver must of necessity be forced tightly Gl ding f:

laden waste materials used inthe treatment-and into conventional holders with tapering sides lo serting the' same through the slit top of a closed carton; Whereas a waste carton should be disthe receiver. Thus t e impoftamie of individual posed of for santiary reasonsimmediately after waste cartons for the r'espective'patients is esthe treatment of a patient, the attending dentist e t l n: the p eve o OT Spradirig in efiti s may forget to disposeof a used oneand substi-': and diseases from one patient to another, but a tute a fresh one, or foreconomic reasons, he may as bo p ed Out s Saiiitary requirement- 5%,?

deliberately employ the same waste carton until t not strictly adhered to.v i l the same has become filled, and during :whi h 1 3 One of the principal objects of, this invention time a number of patients have been treated; "resides inia t receiver for de Which y This condition is inductive for the spread of in- 8 Sanitarily d in the disposal, of cotton D fections and disease from one patient to another. lets during the treatmen o more than Single extraction of teeth. r At present it is the custom of the dental profession todispose of cotton pellets used in the Y treatment of the teeth,'gums and jaws, by in-- In order to dispose of a waste cotton pellet, it is necessary that the same, while still being held by the jaws of a tweezer or like dental instrument, must be forced through the slit in the top of the carton. In forcingthe waste cotton pellet through the slit, the tweezers or other instrument comes in contact with the walls'of the slit, and immediately, this area absorbs the germ laden fluids such as blood, pus andfsaliva, which by reason of the use of the carton in the treatment of a previous patient, may pick up germs which are then transferred to the next'patient being treated. A dentist may, be treating an infected tooth or socket or gum area in the mouth of a as drippings from. saturated waste receiver are and forced up through the broad bottom of .theholder, so that the. c-rossslit is on the top. To

discard this-usedcarton it isthe comrrionpretctice for thedentist to force it outwith his fingers which must touch the germ saturated 'top Liof patient, if V necessary, without the danger of transmitting infection from one patient to another,shou1d the dentist forget to change the waste receiver after each patient as should be done, and which feature is accomplished bylpro- ,vidi'ng; individual openings in a paper receptacle for, successiveuse and through which the germ laden pellet which clings to the tweezers and cannot be' dropp'ed into the waste receiver fromvthe open top inay be inserted and stripped free of the jaws of the tweezers upon withdrawal offlthe jaws of the instrument from the opening;

Another featureof the invention isto provide a paper dental waste receiver in which thewalls the closed carton" type of receiver is that the patient, and may also treat uninfected teeth, of the cotton pellet receiving openings are or socket in the mouth oi the very same patient mutilated as they are used tovisibly indicate to during the same sitting." In using the closed carthe dentist that-such opening has been used and ton waste receiver there is a constant danger of 'for sanitary reasons should not be used again. carrying :the germs from the diseased ar-ea by thus the next unused opening is chosen, and-when 40 contact with the waste receiver. to the healthy thewalls of all the openings become mutilated, A0

area. i I I V the waste receiverandits contents are disposed When, large pieces of waste material such as ofand the samereplaced by a fresh one:

cotton waste, cotton rolls saturated with germ Another feature of thelinvention is thepro laden fluids. such as'blood and plus, are forced vision of a dental'waste receiver having; an open v 4;; through the slit of theclosed receiver usedto- 7 top for the reception of co-ttonrolls,gutta-percha,- $5 day, these fluids usually spatter all over the plaster; extracted teeth and other heavierpieces, r bracket table, on the instruments and'at times of waste which readily release themselves from over the patient and dentist. This is unsanitary the tweezers or other holder instrument, the and dangerous. side walls of the receiver having theaforemem The receiver because of its closed top requires 7 tioned openingsto receive and free other waste 159 the dentist to dispose of large waste materials by material which mayhave a. tendency to cling to walking to the floor waste can away from the the jaws of the holder instrument. v v f dental chair and depositing it there. This pro Anotherfeature' is that of providing a'n'open cedure, is tiring, inconvenient, and unsanitary, top dental wastereceiver as distinguished from waste contents thereof being in plain view of a dentist and a patient to be treated, the dentist will be induced to provide a fresh receiver for each patient.

A still further feature of the invention is to provide a dental waste receiver which is of such inexpensive construction as to enable individual use of the receiver without economic hardship to the dental profession.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following specification is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which, Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of my improved dental waste receiver in position of use, one of the waste receiving openings being shown mutilated by previous use thereof.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the blank from which the waste receiver is formed.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters, the numeral l designates my improved dental waste receiver in its entirety which is folded into box form from a single blank of cardboard A as illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing. The blank A includes a rectangular area scored on the substantially equi-distantly spaced parallel lines H, l2 and I3 to provide four identical side walls l4, l5, l6, and I1. Inwardly foldable bottom flaps l8 and I9 are connected to the bottom of the side walls l and H respectively, while integral with the side wall M is an inwardly folding bottom wall 20 which has a looking flap 2| co-extensive therewith. An attaching glue flap 22 extends from the outer side of the side wall [4 and when the side walls are folded on the respective fold lines H, I2, and i3, the flap is folded on the line 23 so as to lie fiat against and be glued to the side wall ll. When the side walls have been secured in the manner just described, it is possible to flatten out the partially set up receiver for the same will collapse on the fold lines I I, l2, l3 and 23. For convenience the receiver will be sold in collapsed form and set up for use as needed. To complete the setting up of the receiver, it is only necessary to fold the flaps l8 and I9 inwardly, after which, the tongue flap 2'! is folded into the receiver body as best seen in Figure 2. The folding of the bottom flaps provides a bottom wall for the receiver and maintains the side walls in fixed upstanding position.

The receiver body is open at its top as at 24 and the top edge of each side wall is provided with a series of spaced V shaped notches 25 to be used for a purpose presently to be explained.

Each side wall is provided adjacent its top edge with a pair of round openings zfi of a size to freely enable the insertion of the jaw end of a dental tweezers when gripping a cotton pellet or other like germ laden dental waste. Extending downwardly from each opening 26 is a narrow V-shaped slit 21. The openings 26 are on the same horizontal plane and provide a row of spaced waste receiving openings around. the four sides of the receiver body.

In use, the box-like receiver body It) is firmly supported upon a dentists bracket table by fitting the lower portion of the same into the socket or recess 28 of a conventional holder device 29. The waste receiver I0 is of such height relative to the height of the holder device 29, that the openings 26 and slits 2'! are disposed well above the top of the holder device.

In practice, a fresh waste receiver is used in. each patient, but should the dentist or nurse forget to change the used waste receiver, no damage will occur such as the likelihood of spreading disease, or the carrying of germs from the waste receiver to the patient, as the Waste is ordinarily dropped in from the open top and the individual openings are used only in the case of small clinging waste. After an opening 25 has been used to facilitate the depositing of a piece of dental waste into the receiver, that opening is never used again for it is mutilated to visibly distinguish the same from an unused opening, whereupon the dentist may know at a glance which opening is sanitarily safe to use in the disposal of other waste material.

Assume that it is desirous to dispose of a cotton pellet or like waste material C held by the gripping jaws of the tweezers B. The jaw end withdrawn throughslit 21, causing mutilation or deforming of the walls of the slit as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and at the same time, any waste material which has a tendency to cling to the tweezers although the jaws of the tweezers have been released, is stripped from the tweezers or other instrument and drops into the receiver.

Larger germ laden waste such as cotton rolls, gutta-percha, plaster, and the like may be deposited into the receiver through the open top thereof and are of such nature as to free themselves from' the tweezers or other holder instrument. However, should any of the larger waste material cling to the tweezers, the same may be stripped therefrom by placing the instrument in one of the notches 25 or between two or more notches and drawing the instrument outwardly whereupon the waste will be freed and drop within the receptacle. It is possible to detect which of the notches have been used, for the walls thereof may become stained or discolored by contact with the jaw ends of the instrument or. by contact with the germ laden waste substance.

The notches are also used as instrument wipers r or cleaners. By running the moist part of the tweezers or other instrument back and forth, the instruments are cleaned of fluid such as blood, pus or medication.

After the openings 25 and notches 25 have been used in the stripping of dental waste substancesfrom the holder implement, the receiver H1 is removed from the holder 29 by lifting the receiver out of the holder easily with the tweezers, or by inserting an instrument through one of the individual holes and disposed of Without a den tists finger touching it, while a fresh receiver is placed in the holder 29.

While I have shown and described what Iconsider to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that such changes and alterations as come within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to if desired without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A dental waste receiver comprising a cardboard receptacle body open at its top to receive I the top of the side walls of said body between which the holder end of a dental holding instru-a dental waste materialsyand spaced notches'provided in the top edges of the side walls of said receptacle body to facilitate the stripping .of waste materials from a dental tweezers or like holder instrument in instances where the waste material will not freelydrop from the holder instrument. I I 1 2. A sanitary dental waste receiver comprising a cardboard receptacle body open at itstop to,

freely receive dental waste materials when dropped thereinto, andspaced V shaped notches provided in the topfledgesof the side wallsof said receptacle body into whichthe holder end. of adental holding instrument may be seated and subsequently pulled outwardly to effect the stripping .of any waste materials therefrom which may. have a tendency to cling to a holding instrument.

3. A sanitary dental ing acardboard receptacle body open-at its top to freely receive dental waste materials when dropped thereinto, and closely spacedstripper elements provided on and rising upwardly from i'nent may be inserted and subsequently pulled outwardly to effect a stripping of any waste materials therefrom which may have a tendency to cling to a holding instrument.

4. A sanitary dental waste receiver compris inga single blank of cardboard which is-'cut,

folded and secured to provide areceptaclebody having a closed bottom and an open topwhereby waste materials held by adental instrument may be freely deposited into'tsaid body by dropping the same thereinto, and spaced upstanding stripper elements on the top edge of the side walls of said body whereby waste materials having a of clinging waste into instrument.

waste receiver compristendency to cling. to a dental instrument may be scraped free into said body by drawing'the instrument outwardly across the top edge of said 6. A sanitary-dentalwaste receiver comprising a'single blank of cardboard having a rectangular'side wall forming area scoredon three spaced parallel score lines to divide the same into four side walls, the top edge of said blank being provided, with groups of c1osely spaced substantially lV -shaped notches respectively arranged intermediatethe ends of the said score lines, a foldable glue flap integral with one of the side walls for infoldingv and glueing to the next adjacent side wall when the blank is folded on the score tain of the bottom edges of certain of said side walls for forming albottom wall. 1

7. 'A' sanitary dental waste receiver comprising'a single blank of cardboard which is cut,

scored, folded, and secured to provide angularly l related upstanding side walls and a bottom wall, andjajgroup of closelyspaced substantially V- shaped notches on the top edge of each side wall substantially as and for the purpose specified.

,lines to set up position for use, and inwardly Y -foldab1e bottom forming flaps integral with cer- 

